By Dr. Gabriel Rossi
Understanding and recovering the drivers of salmon productivity and resilience in the South Fork Eel River
Pacific salmon are iconic travelers. Young salmon use nearly all of the types of habitat available in a large watershed. They emerge in headwaters to rear in tributaries before moving into mainstems rivers, across inundated floodplains and off-channel habitats, through estuaries, sloughs and out onto tidal shelves and the open ocean. Each of these places offers food and growth opportunities for rearing salmon according to unique seasonal and daily patterns. And salmon are wonderfully adapted to these historic patterns of abundance in their home waters. But today in the Eel River and across their range in California, young salmon are often severed from those sources of productivity that nourished their ancestors. Natal streams become dry or inhospitable due to water diversion; mainstem rivers are dammed or occupied by new predators and diseases; floodplains and off-channel habitats are diked and leveed; estuaries are simplified and reclaimed for agriculture.
Given this context, we’re asking the question: How can we help to reconnect the Eel River’s native fish with restored and recovering productive habitat that made this river such a powerful and resilient salmon stream?
California Trout and U.C. Berkeley are partnering with the Wiyot Tribe, Humboldt State University, and local consulting and watershed restoration groups to answer this critical management question, and to develop baseline monitoring data in the South Fork Eel River. We will then use that information to take the necessary actions that will help recover the river’s iconic salmon. This research and monitoring will be accomplished through our South Fork Eel River Science Program. Little is known about the spatial structure, abundance, and diversity of salmon life histories in the South Fork Eel River or the fate of non-natal fish in lower mainstem and estuary habitat. Even less is known about the seasonal and spatial patterns of salmon food production, or the “lost” growth potential that is a product of a century of habitat alteration, invasive species introduction, and climate change.
To develop this critical knowledge-base we are working on many fronts. We are working with state, federal, and tribal partners to pursue invasive species remediation projects. We are trapping migrating juvenile salmon and implanting them with acoustic tags to understand migration patterns, habitat use, and survival. We are partnering with the Wiyot Tribe and Stillwater Sciences to monitor the movement of invasive predatory pikeminnow to understand their interactions with native salmon. We are partnering with Humboldt State University researchers to assess pikeminnow suppression and eradication approaches. We are monitoring and counting adult salmon migration using sonar DIDSON technology. And we are measuring food, and modeling growth potential across seasonal and spatial scales (from headwaters to the sea) to understand what is and what could be the productive capacity of the South Fork Eel River. This information will be leveraged to identify, prioritize, fund, and accomplish the most important recovery actions that will pave the way toward a future resilient and abundant wild salmon population and a healthy South Fork Eel River ecosystem.
Learn more about Dr. Rossi and his work on our South Fork Eel River Science Program project page.
Cover photo: Dr. Gabriel Rossi, Basil Rossi, and Darren Mierau (CalTrout North Coast Director) at the mouth of the Eel River.
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Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.